Notes: This show was an ATO Pledge Party and previously circulated as September 27, 1987. Trey teased Who Knows in Fire and DEG in Whipping Post. There was a third set to this show but copies do not circulate and no list is known. Some copies of this show in circulation are incomplete and out of order. These copies are usually mislabeled as “Pledge Party, Burlington, VT.” Other copies circulate with the complete recording (except for BBFCFM) but have Slave before Bowie; this order is incorrect. Good Times Bad Times, Slave to the Traffic Light, and Big Black Furry Creature From Mars were shot from a video by (or for) Mike. It is unclear whether BBFCFM closed the set or was the encore because a recording of it does not circulate.

It took some time to figure out the true date of this show. Here was the thought process from an email I sent out to figure it all out. I'm happy to see the date has been corrected!

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The more I think about it, the more I think the 9/27/87 show is mis-labeled and is really the 2/20/88 show at the same venue.

The reason this makes sense is three-fold:

Firstly, on what is labeled the 9/27/87 show, the band plays a full composed Fluffhead. But the band hadn’t put Fluffhead together until November of that year (1987). Why would the band play a fully composed Fluffhead, but then a few shows later play The Chase, Who Do We Do (2x), and Clod all outside of Fluffhead? That doesn’t really make sense. It would make more sense for the band to slowly incorporate those songs into Fluffhead, and once they got it to click, keep it that way. Granted, there was a weird period in the fall of 89 when the band split up fluffhead a bit, but for the most part, after 87, Fluffhead was played in its entirety with almost no gaps. Having a weird date outside of that time period to have the full composition making each part a debut doesn’t make sense. It makes much more sense that the full Fluffhead was instead played on 2/20/88, when the band had in fact put it all together.

The second reason is the appearance of Phase Dance. The band played Phase Dance 4 times. 2/7, 2/8, 2/26 (all of 88) and 9/27/87. Notice how convenient it would be for Phase Dance to be played on 2/20/88? That’s right – it just doesn’t make sense for the band to play a song once in September, then play it 3 times in a row in February. During this period, the band would play a cover and keep it in rotation and either play it out, or drop it altogether. They needed material and they kept what worked and dropped what didn’t, quickly. It makes much more sense that the 9/27 gig is really the 2/20 gig.

Finally – Junta has always been said to be recorded in the winter of 1988. Take my previous statements about the Junta-similarities in this show, and it matches up with another period when we think the band recorded Junta.

Besides all that, the shows are at the same venue and the band doesn’t even know if the songs are in the correct venue. The only source is from Mike’s videos. The included BBFCFM on his video and on phish.com which isn’t present on 9/27 could be from the missing set that no one has a copy of. Really, the only way to know would be to see Mike’s videos – but I think we can just use basic logic and go ahead and chalk this up to a mis-labeled tape. Only magnetosphere could weigh in…he’s the one who has the masters.

The only annoying part is it rips a hole in all my review of the show…and the junta discussion fodder I wrote…ohwell…

Yes, the date problem was the result of a mis-labeled tape and nothing more! Charlie Dirksen contacted me to question the date, which led to me doing a bit of research among other guys who were on hand, leading to a verified new date of 2/20/88, which I learned just last year was the birthday of a pal who wished he could attend but had to work that night. This was the date verification we were looking for, and was consistent with various other facts gleaned from the setlist (esp. the Fluffhead arrangement, which was not consistent with Fall '87).

For those who aren't aware, I took the original tapes to a pro studio and had them remastered last year, which provides a monster upgrade over my original seed of this show many years via GDLIVE (which I mastered myself, quite poorly). That show can be accessed here (2 seeders as of this writing):

Overall a pretty standard show. None of the performances really stand out as superior to most of '88 or beyond. The band def seemed to enjoy this show though, as did the crowd and you could tell phish came to impress.

Set I rips through Funky Bitch which is always a nice loose fun opener. Golgi through Skin It Back very standard. You've heard one you've heard them all kind of deal. Nice playing by trey in possum though. Bowie was also good, but not better than most.

Set II also very standard but well played. Not a fan of '88 Wilson or Bag, so the show drops for me there. Whipping post has been played better. Very solid encore with BBFCFM. Standard show. Not terrible by any means, but nothing standout.

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